Bangalore: Dr K R Balakrishnan, Director, Cardiac Sciences, Fortis Centre for Heart Failure & Transplant, Fortis Malar Hospital in Chennai, leading cardiac transplant surgeon on international repute, was awarded FICCI Special Jury Award for his contributions to healthcare and medical research at an event here recently. The award was presented in a special medical conference ‘Indian Healthcare: A Patient’s View’ in the presence of Ms Anupriya Patel – Union Minister of State, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, Mr Rahul Khosla – Chair, FICCI Health Services Committee; President, Max Group & Chairman, Max India Ltd and other eminent dignitaries.

The Federation of India Chamber Of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) organizes this annual conference with an aim to facilitate organizations and individuals for their contributions to the industry by innovating for increased efficiency, affordability and improved performance of healthcare delivery at large. The FICCI Awards have emerged as the definitive recognition for contribution to healthcare in the country over the years based on Innovation, Sustainability, Impact and Scalability which forms the four criteria’s for evaluation.

FICCI, in a first-of-its-kind move, also curated an exclusive Special Jury Award to recognize the contributions of Dr K R Balakrishnan in the Indian medical ecosystem. Dr Balakrishnan has done more than 156 heart transplants, 9 heart and lung transplants and 14 lung transplants; in the process saving as many as 179 lives. Credited with India’s First LVAD in 2012 and HVAD pump implant in 2013 as destination therapy, Dr Balakrishnan has performed India’s first Paediatric heart transplant surgery on a two-year nine-month-old international patient from Russia. He also saved a patient with cardiac arrest using a new artificial Heart Pump. He implanted a mechanical device (LVAD) as an alternative to heart transplant on a 58-year old. Last year, a man was revived, 45 minutes after his heart had stopped beating, with a heart transplant.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. K R Balakrishnan, Director – Cardiac Sciences, Fortis Centre for Heart Failure & Transplant, said, “It is indeed a great honor to be recognized by an institution like FICCI for our collaborative work at Fortis Malar Hospital. We at Fortis Malar strive to offer world-class medical experience without compromising on patient care. Our every step, every initiative is undertaken with utmost importance to place India as a Healthcare capital on the International map.”